Gum clamp



Mmdw 5, i946. D, s, 'ROBINSON GUM CLAMP Filed March 31, 1944 E; @a Ta-Ei al. E FIEL-"l IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 5, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUM CLAMP David S.Robinson, Newburg N. Y.

Application March 31, 1944, Serial No. 528,904

(Cl. 12S-325) Claims.

This invention relates to a gum clamp and while it primarily is intendedfor use as means for stopping flow of blood after a tooth has beenextracted, it will be understood that it may be used for checking theflow of blood wherever it may be practical to apply the clamp.

After a tooth has been extracted, it is, at the present time, customaryto employ a drug to check the iiow of blood and, in addition, apply awad of cotton which is gripped between a patients upper and lower jawand thus subjected to pressure. This has not been found satisfactory asthe `pressure spreads the gum and the blood continues to flow, it beingnecessary to apply several Wads or rolls of cotton before the flow ofblood ceases.

Therefore, one 'object of the invention is to provide a device which maybe applied to a gum in relation thereto and firmly grip the gum fromopposite sides so that portions of the gum will be pressed toward eachother to seal the cavity after a tooth has been extracted. It will thusbe seen that a hemorrhage following the extraction of a tooth will bevery effectively checked and blood confined in the gum to form a clot.

Another object of the invention is to form the gum clamp that the clampand a roll or wad of cotton carried thereby may nt between the teeth andremain firmly in place without it being necessary for the patient tohold his lower jaw rmly closed in order to hold a device in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a clamp with a springmember formed from a strip of resilient metal or other suitablematerial, the clamp being substantially U-shaped and having ends of itsarms bent back upon themselves to form enlargements which not only servevery effectively to apply pressure to the gum at inner and outer sidesof a cavity, resulting from an extraction, but also serve to hold thespring member in engagement with a cotton pad.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gum clamp which issimple in construction, very easy to apply, and not liable to slip outof place while it is in use. v

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the improved clamp applied.

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the clamp.

Figure 5 is an end view of the clamp.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken vertically through the clamp alongthe line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line T-`l of Figure 3 andillustrating the relation of the clamp to the cavity resulting from theextraction of a tooth.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of a somewhat larger clamp.

kFigure 9 is a top plan view of the clamp shown in Figure 8.

Figure l0 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line IU-I 0 ofFigure 9.

Figure 11 isa side elevation of a modified form of the clamp.

Figure 12 is a top plan view of the clamp shown in Figure 11.

Figure `13 is a vertical sectional View taken along the-line |3-l3 ofFigure 12.

Figure 14 -is a side elevation lof a clamp somewhat larger than thatLshown in Figure 1l.

.Figure 15 is an illustration of a modified form of clamp wherein theresilient strip is embedded in the cotton pad or wad.

Figure 16 is a sectional view taken along the line lli-i6 of Figure 15.

Figure 17 .is a sectional view taken along the line I1|1 of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is a View partially in elevation and partially in section ofanother modified form of clamp.

Figure 19 is a sectional view taken along the line IB-l 9 of Figure 18.

The improved clamp Lconstituting the subject matter'of this invention isemployed as means for, checking a hemorrhage and permitting rapidformation of a blood clot in a cavity ,resulting from the extraction of-a tooth and briey consists ,of a spring member I and a pad 2 which maybe straddled by the spring member or have the spring member embedded init. The pad v2 which is formed of absorbent cotton is of greater widththan the spring member l and projects from opposite .sides thereof, itswidth being such that the pad may t snugly teeth 3 in covering relationlto a cavity 1l resulting from extraction of a tooth. This is clearlyshown in Figures 1, 2, 3 and 7 and referring to these figures, it willbe seen that when the clamp is applied, the pad rests upon the gum 5 incovering relation .to the cavity Y4 and end portion of the pad bearagainst the gum at opposite sides thereof. The spring member is formedof steel or any other suitable resilient material which willexertgripping pressure when the clamp is in use. The resilient strip isbent Figures 6 and '7, it will be seen that arms of the spring memberconverge toward their ends which are bent inwardly back upon themselvesto form hook-shaped terminal 6. The hook-shaped ters minals, which maybe referred to as ears, are embedded in end portions of the cotton pad 2and rmly hold the spring member in anchored engagement with the pad.Since the hook-shaped terminals are disposed inwardly of the arms of mthe spring member, they provide the arms with inwardly extendingenlargements and when the clamp is applied, as shown in Figure 7, endsof the clamp will be very rmly pressed against inner j Y and outersurfaces and pressure will be exerted by a pinching action. Thispinching action tends to close the cavity and not only reducesthe sizeof the cavity, but also checks the flow of blood and causes a blood clotto be quickly formed in the cavity. The fact that the cotton padstraddlesthe gum in covering relation to the open mouth of the cavitycauses the cavity to be very effectively closed at its mouth and a drugused to check flow of blood will be held in the cavity.

This drug may be applied to the absorbent cot 25 ton pad or directlyinto the cavity. When the clamp is in place, it is firmly held bypressure of the -spring member and it will not be liable to slip loose.The resilient strip from which the spring member is formed, may be quitenarrow, as

shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, or it may be wider, as shown in Figures 8-9and 10. Therefore, a small cavity or a large cavity may be sealed by useof a small clamp or a, large clamp.

In Figures 11,` 12 and 13, there has been llus- 35 trated a clamp for aspring member of modified formation. In this embodiment of theinvention, the resilient strip from'which the spring member l is formed,has wide end portions Il. Therefore,

when the resilient strip is bent to form the U- 40 shape spring member,its arms will be of appreciablygreater width than its bridge portion andwhen the clamp is in use, the arms of the spring member will cover agreater area of the gum and a hemorrhage very effectively checked when alarge jaw tooth is extracted. Ends of the re- -silient strip are taperedand these tapered portions are bent inwardly back upon the arms to formhook-shape terminals 9,' corresponding to the terminals 6. The springmember of Figure 14 50 is similar in construction to that shown inFigures 1l, 12 and 13 except that the portions 9 of the resilient strip7' from which the spring member is formed, are of greater width than thecorresponding portions 8 of the spring member 'I 55 and the bent backends 9 are of greater width than the corresponding terminals 9.

' The clamp illustrated in Figures 15, 16 and 17 also consist of anabsorbent pad I and a spring member Il which is U-shaped and has its ex-00 tremities bent inwardly back upon themselves to form hook-shapeterminals I2. The clamp illustratecl in these figures differs from thosepreviously described in that the spring member II is embedded in the padinstead of being disposed ("5 externally of the pad in straddlingrelation to it. While the spring member II has been shown formed from astrip of resilient material of an even width throughout its length, itwill be understood that it may have wide end portions corresponding tothose shown in Figures 11 to 14. This clamp is applied in the'samemanner shown in Figures l, 2 and3 and ts between the teeth and coveringand straddling relation ,to the cavity resulting when a tooth isextracted. 'The arms 2,396,203 f to a substantial U-shape and uponreferring to of the spring member apply gripping pressure to the gum atopposite sides of the cavity to hold the clamp in place and check flowof blood and the pad bears against the mouth of the cavity.

In Figures 18 and 19, there has been shown a form of clamp which isparticularly adapted for use to check a hemorrhage and stop flow ofblood from a finger, hand, wrist and other portions of the body to whichit may be applied. This clamp is larger than the ones previouslydescribed and consists of elongated pad I3 and a'spring membei' I4. Thepad is formed from a roll of absorbent cotton enclosed in gauze I5.'I'he spring -v -member is formed from a strip of resilient materialwhich is curved longitudinally and has its endportions bent inwardly toform arms I 6. The ends of the strip are bent inwardly back uponthemselves to form hook-shaped members I'I which are'embedded in ends ofthe pad and serve very effectively to hold the pad and the spring memberin engagementwith each other as well as serving as projections 4applying pressure against arteries and large blood vessels. The devicemay be applied about a nger, wrist, ankle or other portions of the bodywhich have been cut, and remain in place as long as necessary, or it maybe only temporarily applied for first aid purposes.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improved clamp,the operation thereof and the method of applying same to use will bereadily understood, and it will be seen that I have provided acomparatively simple, inexpensive and elcient means for carrying out thevarious objects of the invention.

While I have described the elements best adapted to perform thefunctions set forth, it is apparent that various changes in form,proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to,without departing from or sacrificing any of the principles of theinvention.

What I claim is:

1. A gum clamp comprising a pad channeled along its under side forstraddling engagement with a gum across the cavity for an extractedtooth, and a U-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transverselythereof and having ends of its arm bent inwardly back upon themselves toform hook-shaped terminals embedded inthe pad at opposite sides of thechannel for anchoring the spring-member to the pad, said terminalsconstituting inwardly extending projections for applying pressure to thegum transversely thereof at opposite sides of the tooth cavity andchecking now of blood while constricting the cavity to form a blood clottherein.

2. A gum clamp comprising an absorbent pad U-shaped for straddling a gumtransversely thereof across they cavity for an extracted tooth with sideportions bearing against inner and outer surfaces of a gum, and aU-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transversely thereof forapplying pressure against the side portions of the pad and forcing thesame against a gum at opposite sides of the cavity to check now of bloodand constrict the cavity. i l

3. A gum clamp comprising an absorbent pad for straddling a gumtransversely thereof across the cavity for an extracted tooth, and aU-shaped spring-member straddling said pad transversely thereof andhaving its ends formed with inturned hooks embedded in the pad foranchoringthe spring-member to the pad. j l

4. A gum clamp comprising a pad having side extensions adapted tostraddle a gum across the for an extracted tooth, and a U-shapedspringmember straddling said pad transversely thereof and consisting ofa resilient strip bent to U\ shape and having widened end portionsforming arms of the spring-member, extremities of said strip being bentinwardly and forming hooks embedded in opposite side portions of the padfor anchoring the spring-member to the pad.

pAVID S. ROBINSON.

